Assassin’s Creed Shadows gets a new 20 minute video showcasing castle gameplay, PS5 Pro support detailed

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Before its release on March 20th, Ubisoft has unveiled a fresh gameplay video for the new “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” through the PlayStation Blog. The article further discusses the PlayStation 5 Pro compatibility that will be incorporated into the game.

In a freshly released 20-minute gameplay video for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Simon, one of the game’s Associate Directors, demonstrates two different ways that characters Naoe and Yasuke can infiltrate the Nijo Palace. For those using the PlayStation 5 Pro, there will be three modes to choose from, similar to the standard PlayStation 5 console, but with an added bonus of enhanced ray tracing in the Pro version.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is set to be released on March 20 for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and personal computers via Steam, Epic Games Store, and Ubisoft.

For a comprehensive understanding, you can check out the complete details provided by Ubisoft on the PlayStation Blog. Additionally, you’ll find a 20-minute gameplay demonstration below for your viewing pleasure.

In Assassin’s Creed Shadows, castles function as fortified strongholds, teeming with hostile guards, useful resources, and one particularly valuable treasure chest. Overpowering a tenshu entails dispatching any Samurai Daisho within its boundaries, thereby unlocking the treasure chest, which rewards you with powerful equipment. By hovering over the castle icon on your map, you can preview the contents of these prized chests.

In Assassin’s Creed Shadows, castles are one way to progress and gather resources. By completing them, you boost your Knowledge Rank, enabling access to advanced skills and enhancements. Moreover, these tasks reward experience points and mastery points, which can be utilized to immediately improve Naoe and Yasuke’s abilities. Furthermore, castles hold valuable resources that can be collected for your hideout. Smaller items can be grabbed manually, while larger hoards can be marked by Naoe and Yasuke for scouts to pick up and transport during seasonal transitions.

Naoe stealth approach

The journey starts as Naoe moves quietly under cover of darkness. She silently eliminates a guard at the perimeter using her concealed weapon, the Hidden Blade. Swiftly, she ascends the rooftops with her grappling hook and surveys nearby patrols. Unlike previous games in the series, Assassin’s Creed Shadows does not permit you to summon a bird companion for reconnaissance. Instead, pressing L2 allows you to employ the Observe feature, which enables Naoe or Yasuke to concentrate their vision on an enemy, objective, or loot, effectively marking it.

While exploring, Naoe discovers a highly skilled Samurai named Daisho who stands as an obstacle for capturing the tenshu and acquiring its valuable reward. Equipped with her short blade tanto, Naoe has the ability to eliminate two targets simultaneously. However, the Daisho’s robust health prevents her from defeating him in one attack…for now. The gear provided by Shadows comes with unique benefits not only in stats but also in strategic alterations. In this instance, Naoe decides to change her headgear to a piece that increases damage on air assassinations, allowing her to eliminate the Samurai Daisho in a single strike.

Deeper within the castle, Naoe summons Gennojo, one of her acquired allies, for assistance. He manages to stun a couple of surrounding adversaries, which enables Naoe to advance and eliminate them both. Gennojo is merely one of many recruitable helpers who can be summoned in the open world. Interestingly, each ally is summoned with a distinct bird call. After those guards are subdued, Naoe employs Eagle Vision to examine the interior of a nearby structure.

In the eagle vision, adversaries show up as red figures, whereas civilians have an orange outline. Remember that while civilians won’t attack you, they can still alert others if they see you. Fortunately, Naoe has access to advanced stealth techniques. To begin with, she puts out a nearby lantern, blending herself into the shadows. Next, she utilizes her grappling hook to climb onto the ceiling to bypass a patrol, and then she drops down to eliminate a second Samurai using her katana through a shoji door.

Yasuke stealth approach

Let’s switch over to Yasuke now, as he stealthily makes his way towards the palace. Although he is a formidable warrior in Shadows, he can also move quietly and unnoticed. Without his grappling hook, he utilizes a nearby low-lying tree branch to climb onto the rooftops. From there, he draws his bow and eliminates a guard from afar without alerting anyone. Next, he creeps up on another guard in a crouching position and swiftly ends him with a deadly strike from his long katana. It may not be as discreet as the Hidden Blade, but it accomplishes the task effectively and keeps others nearby unaware.

During daylight, Yasuke’s infiltration lacks the advantage of concealment that Naoe had in the darkness, but he adapts by moving across rooftops and using the slope of pitched roofs to remain unseen as he crawls flat on them. In this scenario, Yasuke enlists another ally, Oni-Yuri, a specialist in poisons who can render multiple foes unconscious with her skills.

Transitioning to the next yard, Yasuke spies a tower with bells that could signal the entire fortress about his arrival if spotted. However, he can disable it using his bow (or alternatively, Naoe’s shuriken or kunai). Now, it’s time for a dramatic entrance to defeat the final Samurai Daisho. First, Yasuke fires an arrow at a gunpowder barrel, eliminating a guard nearby. Subsequently, he exchanges his bow for a colossal kanabo club. The immense force of the kanabo leaves the Samurai Daisho battered, adding another mastery point to Yasuke’s tally.

Naoe combat approach

Returning to Naoe’s battle strategy, we witness her exceptional combat abilities unfold. This starts with swapping her stealth equipment for armor and headgear designed for combat, allowing her to leap over enemies by sprinting towards them and knock them down by sliding into them. Her tanto is upgraded to a legendary kusarigama, which increases damage against enemies at a distance of more than three meters. The kusarigama serves as Naoe’s long-range melee weapon, ideal for managing crowds and engaging multiple opponents simultaneously. It also empowers Naoe with the ability to quickly assassinate targets (a passive skill that can be used whenever the kusarigama is one of her two equipped weapons and does not require adrenaline) by wrapping her enemy with one end of the kusarigama and using it to propel herself forward for the final strike.

When Naoe reaches a high vantage point, she notices that the servant who initially saw her has come back accompanied by more people. Instead of confronting them herself, she summons Yaya, a powerful fighter, to handle them. Once the reinforcements are taken care of, Naoe uses the Observe ability to locate Takahashi Shiro, a member of The Twisted Tree family whom she’s been instructed to kill. This time, her air assassination attempt only causes partial harm, indicating that she’ll have to engage in a fight. Utilizing smoke bombs and her kusarigama, she swiftly dispatches the less formidable guards while evading Shiro, systematically damaging his armor before delivering the final blow. Having eliminated her target and the Samurai Daisho, Naoe climbs Nijo Tenshu to reach a synchronization point, where she again employs the Observe ability to scan nearby points of interest.

Yasuke Combat Approach

We conclude our tour focusing on Yasuke’s specialty: combat. Similar to Naoe, this phase starts with a gear swap where his katana and kanabo are exchanged for a naginata and teppo (a single-shot rifle). Previously, his last armor was perfect for stealth since it doubled the damage from ranged weapons during non-combat situations. However, this method is noisy, so he needs a new armor set. Fortunately, this new armor has a unique engraving that enables him to deflect unavoidable attacks (identified by their red glow) that typically can only be dodged. This armor works exceptionally well with the accompanying helmet, which reduces damage taken on parry by 50% and increases the damage inflicted on the attacker by 50%. As a result, Yasuke can now deflect any incoming attacks and even return 50% of the damage back to the attacker.

In most Assassin’s Creed games, you don’t usually charge in aggressively. However, Yasuke breaks this rule, storming through a door and swiftly killing the nearest guard with his teppo. Being large gives Yasuke a certain bravery, as he can both absorb and deal more damage than Naoe in direct combat. Without hesitation, he charges across the courtyard to confront Takahashi Shiro. Equipped with his naginata, he skillfully parries most attacks thrown at him, efficiently dispatching all guards and even defeating Shiro with relative ease. Although he’s not as agile as Naoe in climbing, Yasuke still manages to scale the tenshu to obtain the valuable chest and seize control of Nijo Palace.

In “Assassin’s Creed Shadows,” the two main characters, Naoe and Yasuke, boast unique skills, tools, and combat styles. However, their versatility allows for dynamic gameplay, enabling you to switch between stealth and confrontation as needed. Choose your path—rush in or hide in the background—when “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” releases on PlayStation 5 on March 20th.

Enhanced for PS5 Pro   

In its debut as a game designed exclusively for contemporary gaming systems, Assassin’s Creed Shadows boasts playability at resolutions up to 2160p and a smooth 60 frames per second on both PS5 and PS5 Pro, particularly in Performance mode. Notably, only the PS5 Pro console can utilize extended ray tracing capabilities, which enriches the game world with realistic, ray-traced reflections. For a comprehensive look at its specifications, see the details below.

  • PS5 – Performance Mode
    • 2160p upscaled, 60 FPS, Selective* Ray Tracing
  • PS5 – Fidelity Mode
    • 2160p upscaled, 30 FPS, Standard** Ray Tracing
  • PS5 – Balanced Mode (requires 120/240hz display and HDMI 2.1)
    • 2160p upscaled, 40 FPS, Standard Ray Tracing
  • PS5 Pro – Performance Mode
    • 2160p upscaled, 60 FPS, Standard Ray Tracing
  • PS5 Pro – Fidelity Mode
    • 2160p upscaled, 30 FPS, Extended*** Ray Tracing
  • PS5 Pro – Balanced Mode (requires 120/240hz display and HDMI 2.1)
    • 2160p upscaled, 40 FPS, Extended Ray Tracing

**Ray Tracing is employed in the computation of global illumination for diffuse lighting across the entire game world.

This version maintains the original meaning while using simpler language that is easier to read. It emphasizes that the Ray Tracing technique is used throughout the entire game world, not just a specific portion called “Hideout.” The phrase “global illumination” refers to the simulation of indirect lighting effects in computer graphics, and “diffuse lighting” describes the scattering of light in all directions as it bounces off surfaces.

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2025-03-06 20:41